Well, it's been a while since I've written. First of all the vacation: the location was wonderful. Maria had found a cottage facing the beach and water, a beautiful spot. The weather was perfect, every day sunny and clear. The kids made crab houses, did gymnastics on the beach and got their feet cut up on the shells. Other than that, it was just too weird to be there without Maria. So, we'll go on from there. Today is Sabra's birthday and Paul follows in two days. They are 4 years apart. They were both conceived on presidential election nights....in 1964 -Johnson and Goldwater. Then in 1968 Nixon and Humphrey. In those days they banned the bars from being open during election hours and television only had a few channels that were all presidential coverage. I think in both those elections I had voted for the loser...Goldwater because I thought Johnson had something to do with Kennedy's assassination and then Humphrey because Nixon was just terrible. So, my candidates lost and I got pregnant because there was no tv and no open bars. My mother once told me that she became pregnant with me on November 21, the day that my grandfather, her father Poppy had lost the tips of his fingers in an accident at Harmon..I think a train wheel fell on his hand. I never asked her about the reason, but I have wondered. I do like it that Jeremy, Maria's son, was born on November 21st - 40 years to the day I was conceived. So we'll think today about births, not the other, but I did look up the title "Death Takes a Vacation", thinking maybe it was a mystery book I remembered my mother reading. But it came up as a movie...with this description,"The grim reaper decides to take three days off in a resort town". There, that would give you something to think about.